December 31, 2025
Has Our Trip Just Begun or Is It Half Over?
Pondering Our Midpoint
Has Our Trip Just Begun or Is It Half Over?
Pondering our Midpoint
What wrangles me is when someone asks, "Are you a glass half full person or a glass half empty person? It's surprising how such a stupid question can irritate me so much. It's not like anyone ever asks me that question either. If they did, I would lose my mind and blather something like: "What glass? Where's the glass?, I don't see a glass." or, "Same difference." or, possibly answer a stupid question with another stupid question, "Stones or Beatles?" I would barrage them with stuff like this and boy would they regret ever asking me such an inane question.
I bring this up because today, December 31st is not just New Year's Eve but the midpoint of our trip and I've been pondering, 'Has our trip just begun or is it half over?" But, who cares. It doesn't mean a thing. We have had a wonderful trip thus far. We've done so much! I had a root canal! That seems like ancient history now. Our trip, so far, has included 2 train rides, 2 bus rides, 2 boat rides, 2 minivan rides and 2 pickup truck rides. Besides the 800 or so miles we have ridden thus far on our 2 bikes. And we ate a whole chicken in less than half an hour.
The main thing is that we have been healthy the entire time. Hopefully the second half of our trip will be similar. Part of a bike trip is how hard you work at things that continue to make it go well. We never go anywhere after dark, not because we are afraid (there is little to be afraid of in Thailand other than snakes) but because we are always trying to keep up with this journal and then it gets dark and we go to bed around 8 or 9 at the latest. We wake up around 5:30AM and try to start riding no later than 7:30 to take advantage of any coolness that might be out there. We take breaks and don't ride day after day after day. We stopped at this particular guest house for two nights because we wanted more time for Andrea's saddle sore to heal, or at least not get worse. Also, it's New Year's Eve and we don't want to be on any road even during the daylight hours on New Year's Eve. We are extra cautious because that is how an involved bike trip goes well. There can always be accidents or just odd, unexpected things that happen but we do all we can to make things go smoothly.
Ryan Van Duzer, cyclist and "Get Out There" enthusiast and great inspiration, has a bit of a mantra at the beginning of each day's ride. He says, "No crashies, no flatties and no whammies." We sometimes say it too, adding other things we don't want to happen like, "No snakies, no doggies and no rainies." We've been lucky and hopefully the second half of our trip goes as smoothly as the first half. I mean, it wasn't exactly smooth at times but fortunately we came through just fine. We had some good luck but we also worked at having good luck.
I want readers who might be considering a bike trip in SE Asia to know that it doesn't have to cost very much and the people are always there to help if you have a problem. Thailand in particular is possibly the best place to start because even far out in the countryside there are guest houses with beautiful, cheap bungalows that have everything you need. There are more and more of them all the time and in recent years the quality has gone way up. It's been incredible to find such nice accommodations in the middle of nowhere. We never would have discovered these guest houses if we had never started cycling. Their existence allows us to go to even more remote places because we never have to worry about finding a place to sleep. And you can find them on your phone using Google Maps. It's so easy nowadays.
One thing that has happened I never thought possible. We have not had to use our mosquito electrocution tennis racket device even once yet. Our rooms have not had any mosquitoes in them at all. And there have been very few mosquitoes anywhere outside too. It's quite incredible that there can be so much standing water (rice paddies everywhere) but no mosquitoes. Maybe that's why the bird population is so healthy. Anyway, I've never been on a trip in SE Asia where there are no mosquitoes in the rooms. It's never bad in the winter anyway because it doesn't rain but this is radically different from other years. Maybe they are spraying our rooms with nasty stuff. Could be.
So, we've been hanging out in our room mostly today and I've been pondering how lucky we are. It's been a very busy and involved year for us but it's been a good one despite the worst President in American history. We didn't exactly leave the country for that reason but, well, we left the country partly for that reason. No, we mostly don't like the cold, dismal winter in Portland. I need more sun and warmth in my old age.
Today, when we asked the manager here at our colorful guest house if we could stay one more night, she said there was only one room available and we would have to move from the one we were in. No problem. We shifted stuff down a few doors and once inside we looked up. The entire ceiling is a mirror! And there is a very substantial grab bar attached to the wall. It's not in the bathroom or anywhere where it would be useful for someone in a wheelchair or other disabilities. It's in an odd place that makes it not useful at all, at least in my way of thinking. I've never seen such a thing and have a hard time pondering what it's for.
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We knew all the restaurants would close really early today so, around 1PM we went down the street to the same great restaurant we went to when we arrived yesterday. We were so happy they were still open. We got the same thing we got yesterday, pad siew with chicken. It was again incredibly good. Then, I got my translator out and wrote, "We stayed one more day so we could eat your food again." I walked over to the owner who up until then had been a bit of a confused, nervous, uptight person, and I held up my phone. She read it and while she read it I was nervous because I never know if the wording in translation will be accurate. This time it was right on. She got a tremendous smile and squealed with delight so that her two employees swung around to see what was happening. She immediately told them and everyone was all smiles. It made her day. It made their day and because of that it made my day too. This is another way to make a trip go well. I was telling the truth. It wasn't the only reason we had stayed another day of course, but it did factor in. There was no other food around and theirs was fantastic. A great place to have our last meal of the year.
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We went back to our colorful guest house and hung around outside in the huge paved area just watching the beautiful sky. The manager suddenly came scooting over on her electric scooter. She aimed directly at Andrea saying, "Madame, madame, pick one." She had a basket with little plastic eggs in it. Andrea picked up one not knowing what was going on. I was certainly never included. The manager opened up the egg and there was a tiny rolled up piece of paper inside. Then she said she had to go back to the office but to wait. It had to be a drawing for a prize! She came silently wheeling back with a cooking pot with a glass lid, brand new, large and heavy. Andrea won a pot!!! A New Year's Eve pot! It was such a let down. Why would someone cycling all over the country want to pack a cooking pot? Why hadn't the manager figured that out and just switched prizes for something more appropriate? She had the power to do that!
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Later, she came pounding on our door with, "Madame, Madame," again. This time she was handing out fireworks; Roman candles and sparklers. Again, pretty useless for two people who go to bed by 9PM whether it's New Year's Eve or not. But she didn't know that. We, the only foreigners here, are happy to be included in all the gift giving and all the enthusiasm. We tried not to show our less than enthusiastic attitudes.
Just before dark we rode our bikes down the street to a tiny 7-Eleven that was actually inside the hospital compound. We got ice cream on sticks, Top Ten Extremes, to be exact. We had just discovered the 'Extreme' version of Top Tens and we couldn't believe how much better they were. We sat in front of 7-Eleven eating our Extremes and then when we left we discovered that the gates to the hospital had all been locked. We had to ride all the way around the hospital buildings to find the main entrance and out onto a busy highway and then back to our street. One last adventure for the year. But it was worth it, another great way to end the year....with an Extreme! Actually, I hope 2026 will be less Extreme than this year has been.
Happy New Year!
lovebruce
Today's ride: 1 mile (2 km)
Total: 878 miles (1,413 km)
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3 weeks ago